Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

internetworkers - RE: [internetworkers] Best Cellular Coverage In The Area?

internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Jay Cuthrell" <jcuthrell AT neonova.net>
  • To: "Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/" <internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: RE: [internetworkers] Best Cellular Coverage In The Area?
  • Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 12:36:22 -0500

> -----Original Message-----
> From: internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:internetworkers-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of Lyman
> Green
> Sent: Sunday, November 02, 2003 11:36 AM
> To: Internetworkers: http://www.ibiblio.org/internetworkers/
> Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Best Cellular Coverage In The Area?
[snip]
> I had Verizon for 2 years, and had excellent service across the Triangle
> except at my house in Chatham County and areas across Chatham County.
> I have switched to Cingular and find I get excellent service across the
> board (so far) in North Carolina, including areas Verizon was
> dead in, like
> my house.

I had corporate AT&T for three years in Raleigh (mid 1999- late 2002). I
started with a 6160 and ended up on a 8260 unit. The 8260 was a great phone
and I did many conference calls from it with no problems. I also traveled
to major US metro cities and was usually able to place calls but would
rarely get calls. Instead, I would find there was a message waiting for me.
AT&T was by far the best text messaging available at the time. I lived more
for text pages than getting phone calls. As a remote worker I did more
calling out usually to conference and the project manager would pull others
on calls. However, if I visited the coast the phone was basically useless.
;-) So, overall AT&T was perfect for the nomad e-consultant that wanted to
be classically unavailable at the beach.

When I changed jobs I joined a Verizon shop. So, I've been a Verizon
customer in Raleigh for over a year now. What is interesting is the type of
coverage in cities vs. the rural parts of the US I have visited. In many
cases I've found Verizon coverage to be horrible in the city AND the rural
areas I visit. Worse, all the advanced features we use basically store and
forward until you get where the request can be completed. So, if I text
message someone when I am in Idaho there is a good chance they won't get it
until I am sitting in the Atlanta airport in two more days. When I call
support they say that I need the "city" software update. However, my phone
is supposed to get this automatically since our corporate account is meant
to manage such features. Anyways...

At first I blamed the phone for dropping calls but it wasn't that. Looking
back, the original clam shell Startac was the perfect phone for phone calls.
That was just Verizon service being bogus. We upgraded to T720's and those
would just stop working or shut off during a conversation but we got better
text message support. I'm on the T730 now and it appears to be a _lot_ more
stable. Now, you get a ton of features with their service and flexible
pricing but you really have to ask yourself... is using a phone to talk the
most important thing or is getting the best mix of phone/pager/messenger the
bigger deal. Oh, and the OpenWave browser is complete crap. Ask me again
and I can tell you how I really feel about it.

Yes, with a cell phone sometimes, I just want to talk. *shrug*

Oh, but if I go to the beach now the phone just works. Dagnabbit. ;-)





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page